Fastener secured installation and snap fastener for the same



June 22, 1937. E. c. DOWSE 2,084,554

FASTENER SECURED INSTALLATION AND SNAP FASTENER FOR THE SAME Filed Oct. .11, 1954 I nvenib 2'.- Edmund 0. 1701066,

Patented June 22, 1937 PATENT OFFICE FASTENER. SECURED INSTALLATION AND SNAP FASTENER FOR THE SAME Edmund C. Dowse, Sherborn, Mass., assignor to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 11, 1934, Serial No. 747,899

4 Claims.

My invention relates particularly, though not exclusively, to a novel fastener for automobile radiator covers.

In the drawing, which illustrates a preferred form of my invention;

Figure 1 is a front view of a complete installation including my novel fasteners;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged end view of one form of my novel fastener;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the fastener shown in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged rear view of a fragment of the installation shown in Fig. 1, including one fastener and support, and the adjacent part of the cover.

One object of my invention is to provide snap fastener means for attaching a flexible cover to the radiator fronts of automobiles in cold weather.

It is a well known fact among operators of motor vehicles that a thermostatically controlled radiator is very apt to freeze up in cold weather when the engine is first started, since the cooling liquid does not circulate until the engine has reached a certain temperature. It has become the practice to use a piece of cardboard across the front of the radiator to avoid freezing, but this is a makeshift arrangement at best. I am aware that flexible covers have been made in the past, but they are all fastened directly to the core of the radiator itself by means of long bolts or Wires which pass through the openings in the core. With the new types of ornamental grilles that are now being used on automobiles, however, such a fastening arrangement is not feasible, because of the in- I accessibility of the rear surfaces of the grille.

My novel fastener is adaptable to nearly all types of radiator grilles now in use, and makes possible the use of a flexible cover, cut to fit the grille and provided with suitably placed apertures. A further advantage of my invention is that the fasteners are secured to the cover, so that when the cover is removed from the grille, there is no chance of the fasteners becoming lost or misplaced.

Referring first to the installation as a whole, as

shown in Fig. 1, I have shown a radiator shell I, having an ornamental grille made up of bars 2. The flexible cover 3, made of imitation leather or other suitable material, is cut to shape and secured to the bars 2 of the grille by a number of novel fasteners 4. The fasteners are inserted in apertures located at the periphery of the cover in overlying certain of the bars 2. Each fastener has a pair of arms which grip the underlying bar, as will be more fully described hereinafter. I prefer to reinforce the apertures by setting a grommet 5 in each one. These grommets make a neater appearance as well as preventing rips in the fabric cover. As shown in Fig. 1, the fastener-receiving apertures in the cover are located in pairs around the edge. This arrangement permits the top pair of fasteners to be slid down the bars without removing them from the cover, whenever it is desired to expose more surface of the radiator.

The fasteners used in this installation are illustrated in Figs. 2-5. I have shown a fastener formed from sheet metal and having a pair of spring arms 6, a cap I, and a novel clip member 8. Thearms 6 are formed by bending a strip of spring metal, as in Fig. 2. The arms 6 extend from a head portion which is formed by curving the mid-portion of the strip and doubling the adjacent portions back onto the curved part. The arms extend in opposed parallel planes from the inner ends of these doubled over portions and then converge towards a common point spaced from the head portion to form shoulders as in Fig. 2. The slope of the shoulders aids the gripping power of the arms by tending to draw the head of the fastener towards the bar of the grille, thereby insuring a secure assembly between the bar and the cover. In order to increase the bearing surface of the head of the fastener, I have secured thereto the cap '5', by means of a peripheral flange integral with the cap.

Between the cap and the head of the fastener I have assembled a U-shaped clip member 8. This member is preferably formed from bendable sheet metal and its arms extend away from the head of the fastener in the same direction as the arms 6, but are located in parallel planes substantially perpendicular to the planes of the arms 6. The purpose of this clip member 8 is to secure the fastener to the cover, as will be explained in the following description of the operation of the fastener.

One method of attaching the cover to the grille is to insert the fasteners, one by one, in the apertures of the cover, so that the head and cap of each fastener lie on the front side of the cover and the arms 6 of the fastener and the arms 9 of the clip member 8 extend through the aperture. The arms 9 of the clip 8 may then be bent outwardly against the grommet and/or back side of the cover 3, as shown in Fig. 3. Then the arms 6 of each fastener are engaged with the proper bar of the grille. The outward slant of the arms at their free ends provides a cam action so that t is merely necessary to push the fastener against the proper bar and the arms will be forced apart by the action of the bar on the'shoulders. When the shoulders have passed the rear edges of the bar, the arms will spring together again and the assembly is complete.

An alternative method of using the fasteners is to form the U-shaped clip so that its free ends 9 are slightly bent away from each other before the assembly (Fig. 5). In this case the procedure is the same as above, except that it is unnecessary to bend the arms of the clip members before engaging the arms 6 with the bar. Due to the outwardly bent ends 9 of the clip 8, the arms will be bent back into the desired position by the action of the bar 2, while the arms 6 are being engaged. When the cover is to be removed, the bent arms of the clip will retain the fastener in the aperture, so that it cannot become lost.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited by such description since the scope of my invention is best defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A fastener for installations of the class described having a head, support-engaging means extending from said head, a cap secured to said head, and a U-shaped clip member having a portion located between said head and said cap, the arms of said U-shaped member extending away from said head in the direction of said support-engaging means, and said arms being adapted to.bend for the purpose described.

2. A fastener for installations of the class described formed from sheet metal and having a head, a pair of yieldable projections extending from said head in relatively parallel planes, a U-shaped clip member having its mid-portion secured to said head, the arms of said U-shaped member extending in the direction of the yieldable projections of the fastener and having their free ends bent slightly outwards whereby when said fastener is being engaged with a supporting structure the initially bent ends will bear on said supporting structure and cause the arms of said U-shaped members to spread apart for the purpose described.

3. A fastener of the class described formed from sheet metal and having an elongated head, a pair of relatively flat yieldable arms extendng from said head and adapted to engage a s pporting member between themselves, a cap secured by a peripheral flange to said head, a U- shaped clip member assembled between said head and .said cap, said clip member being formed from soft bendable sheet metal and having its arms extending in the same direction as the said support-engaging arms, and the arms of said U-shaped member being outwardly bent at their free ends for the purpose described.

4. A snap fastener member having a head, support-engaging means extending from said head and a clip member, means operably holding said clip member in assembled relation with said head, said clip member having arms extending away from said head in the same general direction as said support-engaging means, and said arms being formed of easily bendable material to permit attachment of the snap fastener mem- 

